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 * **Captivate**
 * Google SketchUp 7.1 ... **
 * Simulation**

Bartosz Roman || ||

Overview

 * //Briefly describe the type of game or simulation, the software it will be teaching, and which features your users need to know. What makes this motivational and fun? This section should be interesting and pithy.//**

This procedural simulation will demonstrate how to use some of the tools to begin working in Google SketchUp 7.1. This demo will be directed towards beginners who are interested in learning how to develop models in Three Dimensions (3D). The main focus of this simulation is to allow the learner to gain an understanding on how to use the some of the tools in SketchUp. This is a great program for anyone interested in 3D modeling, architecture and video game design. It is a simple and easy tool to use and best of all, it is free of charge to download and use.

To view the tutorial please click here or the picture above.

Instructional Objective

 * //What will the learners learn to do by completing this simulation? Be specific. Which software? What features will they be able to use?//**

After completing this Captivate simulation, learners will be able to use the Line, Shape, and Push/Pull tools in the toolbar to develop a 3D shape of an object in Google SketchUp 7.1.

· Line tool – Using the Cartesian coordinate system, SketchUp allows lines to be created in three dimensions. Learners will use the line tool to construct lines in different shapes, directions and link lines together to develop flat Two Dimensional (2D) shapes.

· Polygon tools – The Rectangle, Circle and Triangle tools can create an assortment of solid shapes. The Circle and Triangle tools allow learners to change the sides of the shape. An example of the triangles change is to add six sides to create a hexagon. Learners will use the polygon tools to create flat 2D shapes. For this simulation the rectangle tool will be used.

· Push/Pull tool – The Push/Pull tool transforms solid flat 2D shapes into 3D shapes. Learners will literally “Push” and “Pull” to change a shape from a solid flat 2D shape into a 3D shape.

Learners

 * //Who is the game designed for? Describe them in terms of their age, grade level, affinity towards the subject matter, and anything special about them that the reader should know.//**

This simulation is designed for a variety of learners new to the SketchUp program. Ranging from geometry students to aspiring architects and game developers, SketchUp can be used by many different types of people to design shapes and models in 3D. Learners are required to meet Google SketchUps recommended software and hardware requirements in order to install the software:

PC Users: · **Required software** Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, or 7. · **Recommended hardware** 2GHz+ processor. 2GB+ RAM. 500 MB of available hard-disk space. 3D class Video Card with 512+ MB of memory. Ensure that the video card driver supports OpenGL version 1.5 or higher. 3 button, scroll-wheel mouse.

Mac Users: · **Required software** Apple Mac OS X 10.4.1+, 10.5+, or 10.6+ · **Recommended hardware** 2.1GHz G5/Intel™ processor. 2 GB RAM. 400 MB of available hard-disk space. 3D class Video Card with 512+ MB of memory. Ensure that the video card driver supports OpenGL version 1.5 or higher. 3 button, scroll-wheel mouse.

Context of Use

 * //Where would your sim be used? At home? At school? In a training facility? Who are your users and why do they need this training simulation?//**

This simulation can be used at home, at school, and at a training location only if the facility meets the recommended software and hardware requirements outlined in the Learners section. This program is a great teaching and developing tool for various learners who strive to begin 3D modeling. The lesson which I will simulate allows a beginning learner to get the hang of the toolbar and use the line, shape and push/pull tools to complete the goal of creating a 3D shape.

Motivational Issues

 * //Describe how the game engages the learner. Make specific reference to the theoretical readings associated with this course.//**

Motivating a user with minimal or no skill can be a hard task. Using Keller’s ARCS model, describing how this Captivate SketchUp simulation will engage a somewhat interested learner into an amused learner can be solved with the following steps.

To gain the attention of a learner, thought provoking questions must be asked as well as the use of different forms of media to provide an asynchronous learning environment for different learners. Captivate allows learners to visually and audibly, together with SketchUp which allows learners to kinesthetically develop 3D shapes and models.

To keep the attention on the program interesting, the learner needs to realize the relevance and potential in mastering this program. To keep the interest lev el high for the learner, the 3D models on Google Earth have all been developed using the SketchUp program. Video game developers are starting to use SketchUp to develop 3D models for their games.

In order to give the learner confidence, the Captivate simulation is used as the first step in motivating the learner to try this tool. This simulation will allow the learner to learn visually and apply these methods directly into SketchUp to gain the confidence to build things by themselves.

As an end product the learner will have knowledge to many of the simple tools and the satisfaction of completing a 3D shape. This achievement will hopefully engage the learner enough to keep working and challenging themselves to learn and practice more.

Hopefully as an end result of this Captivate SketchUp simulation, the learner will experience what Csikszentmihalyi calls "Flow" and keep challenging themselves as the difficulty of the task rises and they ultimately loss of self-consciousness and time.

Design Process

 * //Describe the process you went through in putting the game together. What were your first thoughts? How did you enhance your ideas? What ideas did you consider and reject (and why?). How did you gather background information? What did you do to get feedback on the idea? How did you flesh out the game to the point of having a playable prototype? How did you gather feedback from that? What lessons did you learn from this that you'll carry to your next game design project?//**

//**Initial Design**//

I discovered Google SketchUp last semester while playing around in Google Earth. I was curious how the 3D models of different building came about. I wanted to know who created all of these buildings. I discovered that all of the buildings were created by different users using the SketchUp tool. I downloaded it and started to play around with it but got frustrated with the tool shortly after because I didn’t know the basics of how to use it.

During this class, I took a look at the various choices of eGame ideas and noticed that Captivate was an option. I am very interested in the Development and using Captivate. I purchased Captivate a couple of months ago, but didn’t find a great use for it. This just seemed like a great chance to use Captivate and develop a short simulation of how to use some basic tools in SketchUp.

I had three ideas for the eGame project; The Nikon project, Captivate and Real-Life RPG. I narrowed down my list to the Captivate project because I was very eager to learn more about the program. It interested me because it will be a program I will use later, and the real life factor of getting to know and mastering the program in comparison to just another assignment was very appealing.

Having used SketchUp in the past I could assess the difficulty of teaching the simulation for this assignment. I also knew what a beginning lesson should consist of since I taught myself from the beginning to use SketchUp. I came up with creating a lesson for beginners to show them around the toolbar and interface to keep them motivated and interested in the program and not becoming frustrated and dropping it completely. I chose the Line, Rectangle, and Push/Pull tools because they are the most essential tools in the SketchUp tool box. Understanding these three tools opens up the entire toolbox for the learner. This simulation will be beginning lesson of hopefully many more lessons to come in teaching people how to use SketchUp and teaching myself how to use Captivate.

//**Design**//

The initial plan was to create a lesson on Sketch Up for beginners. I wanted them to experience the interface to get familiar with how things work before getting frustrated. This would be my first time using Captivate so I didn’t know all the functionality and what Captivate could do.

There were many I wanted to approach this simulation. The first was to show a quick demo on the three tools and then have a session for the learner to be able to experience the interface and work with it. I played around with Captivate and found out that this was not possible as Captivate doesn’t allow for full motion movement, only single clicks. Never the less I tested this process out on one of my friends who never used Sketch Up. He followed along with the demonstration however didn’t know what to do during the interactive tutorial.

I needed to reevaluate my design of the entire project. The demo and tutorial were too far apart and the learner didn’t click exactly where they needed to because the Sketch Up canvas was too big to capture a specific box for the learner to click into. I chose to bring the tutorial closer to the demo, and actually intertwine both of the sections. I also notified the learner to mimic my steps in creating the desired shape.


 * //What lessons did you learn from this that you'll carry to your next game design project?//**

There was a lot of information that I learned during this eGame project. First and foremost I learned the Captivate program. I came into this project knowing nothing and never using this program at all. Second of all, I learned the way that Captivate captures footage from other programs. SketchUp being Captured with Captivate would of worked extremely well for just a simple how to demo without interactivity. I wouldn’t recommend it for an interactive tutorial again because it would be easier to download SketchUp and launch it along side a Captivate demo and perform the tasks straight to the SketchUp canvas.

For the next game I will pick something which is click based and follows a simple click pattern such as a excel tutorial or moving around a web page. Creating an interactive tutorial for wide open programs is very difficult to capture has is very limited due to the area of clicking.

Troubleshooting
//**Audio problem trick for Windows Vista 64 OS**//

If you get an audio problem at the end of your software simulation, there is a quick fix without having to reinstall Adobe Captivate 4.

First and foremost you need to close Captivate 4 and the program you are simulating.

To begin click on the Vista/7 "Start bubble" located in the lower left hand corner. (The thing that brings up the programs list)

Right above the bubble is a "start search" command line,type cmd (don't press enter) wait for the cmd program window to appear above.

Right click on it and select "Run as Administrator" then left click.

The command prompt window will appear. Next you will need to get to the C: prompt.

First, type the following: //Note: yourlogin is the name of your computer account// then press enter, you will see the command prompt at:
 * C:\Users\yourlogin> cd \ ||

Secondly, locate your Captivate 4 directory, below is the pathway if you selected to install Captivate 4 in the default setting. If your pathway was custom please adjust the path direction accordingly.
 * C:\> ||

then press enter, you will see the command at:
 * C:\>cd\program files (x86)\adobe\adobe captivate 4 ||

you will now need to apply the regsvr32 command:
 * C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe Captivate 4> ||

then press enter.
 * C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe Captivate 4>regsvr32 NSAudio.dll ||

Close the command prompt and Start Captivate 4 and your simulated program

For further help please go here: [|captivate_4_update_page.html]


 * Audio problem //continued// for Windows Vista 64 OS (USB Mic fix)**

If the instructions above have solved your problem, that's great! If they partially solved your problem here is some more info. The instructions above actually allow you to get into the audio recording window. For some reason this trick does not allow you to establish an audio connection with your USB mic. I found this website which helped me get audio back and allow to record my instructions.

[|audio-playback-and-usb-mic-problems-in-captivate-4/]

If the Link above does not work, here is the content. Thanks to []

Question: Answer: Some customers who use USB mic for recording narration also observed that device is not getting detected by Captivate. These issues were reported more on Vista and we have one solution to address both the problems. – replacing the NSaudio.dll file. ||
 * Many people are reporting problems with Captivate 4 and Audio playback and recording. Adobe posted a fix on their blog and apparently it does help some people. ||
 * We found that in some of Vista and 7 machines with Real tek or Sigma tel sound card audio inside captivate doesn’t play back.

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